Wednesday, November 20, 2013

Three
days ago I returned from a productive trip to
Rwanda, Tanzania, and Kenya. Here are some highlights of the trip
following my report from the field.

Arusha (Usariva suburb), TZ: 1
Timothy

One
of the problems ECLEA sometimes encounters in East Africa is that many
western missions have, intentionally or not, created a "culture
of dependency" by paying people to attend meetings, providing everything
for free, etc. To a greater or lesser degree that type of thing is now
anticipated if not expected by many of the African church leaders. We
are trying to establish matters on a better basis. We encountered the
rotten fruit of that dependency culture in our last conference in TZ.
The organizers had sent out 135 invitations, but when the participants
learned that they were expected to contribute 5000Tsh (about $3.00) for
the book and meals they would get, only about 25 people showed up. But
that's OK. I told Dickson not to worry about the numbers: the financial
investment the participants make serves to separate the serious people
from those who are not serious. I would always rather have a smaller
number of serious people than a larger number of non-serious people.

The
conference itself went well. The bishop who attended said, "If we get
training like this every year, we will be changed." Another participant
added, "This was divine timing. When leaders are blind, they lead their
people into the pit. Now we know about not jumping around by single
verses but teaching in context and paragraphs." Another said, "I have a
Bible School diploma but never understood 1 Timothy as deeply as in the
last two days."

Site of Usariva, TZ training session

Naivasha, KE: Forgiveness & Reconciliation
TOT

Naivasha
is a town northwest of Nairobi. It was one of the centers of the
post-election violence in 2007-2008 where many were killed or
brutalized. James Ndiba and James Kamau had recognized the
importance of ECLEA's course on Forgiveness & Reconciliation for
this area and had taught it awhile ago. We returned to do a TOT on
the same subject so that the 14 participants would be well equipped to
model and teach it to others. Despite the progress made since 2007,
there is still a lingering undercurrent of tribal-based enmity and
mistrust. Fortunately, the final day of the TOT in particular saw an
extremely good and long discussion among the participants on tribalism
in the churches and how to overcome it. The pastors' fellowship will
begin with itself and develop a plan. A number of specifics were
discussed. This could result in something big that could spread out from
Naivasha to other affected areas.

James Kamau, James Ndiba, and Naivasha, KE participants

Ololulunga, KE: Forgiveness &
Reconciliation TOT

Boniface
Kugotha, the Maasai leader whose picture is on the News & Blog page
of ECLEA's website (eclea.net), hosted our final TOT for about 35
participants. The name of his village (Ololulunga--located west
of Nairobi) means "everything in plenty," but that did not include
moisture. The drought and dryness actually meant that our TOT on
Forgiveness & Reconciliation came at a very opportune time. The
reason is that the
drought has caused many people to invade others' land in search of
greener pastures for their flocks and herds. This has resulted in lots
of property disputes in the area. Our course can help diffuse and
resolve the tensions.

The
lead in teaching this course was taken by my Kenyan team: James Ndiba,
James Kamau, and David Njeru. I chipped in when requested and
appropriate. The immediate impact of this course was seen in that one of
the participants was the principal at a local school. The day before
the TOT began, a large lorry crashed into the school building.
Fortunately, there were no deaths or
major injuries, but the principal was very bitter toward the driver and
the trucking company. At the end of the course, however, she testified
with a smile on her face that, as a result of what we had taught her,
she had forgiven the driver and company and had been healed.

Jonathan, Boniface (center), and my fellow teachers David Njeru, James Ndiba, and James Kamau

Ololulunga, KE participants and teachers

Thank you for your
ongoing interest and support

Your
continuing prayers and financial support are vital. In addition to the
conferences I participate in I also need to pay for translations of our
teaching books into the major East African languages and help facilitate
all-African ECLEA conferences and TOTs. With the end-of-year
approaching, please pray about making tax-deductible donations to ECLEA.
You can send checks to me at 714 S. Summit St., Appleton, WI 54914 or
can donate online (click on the Contact & Donations icon on
eclea.net).

This post was emailed from Tanzania during my recent trip to East Africa:

ECLEA's Rwanda committee

I am in Tanzania right now. After a productive meeting with my
ECLEA-Rwanda committee, here are some things you might like to know.

Bukoba,
TZI thought that the trip from Kigali, RW to Bukoba, TZ was
going to be on one bus. Not so. At the border we had to walk more than a
mile to the various immigration stations. After that, we waited for an
hour or
so. Then it was three separate, crowded vehicles for the last 6 hours
of the journey. A small station wagon jammed about 11 people in: 4 in
the front (where I was); 4 in the back; and 3 in the way back. Then 2
matatus, which jammed up to 25 people in vehicles designed for 17. And
all over unpaved roads. As
an older African man said to me on the last leg of the trip, "this is
Africa."

Bukoba itself is in a hilly area on the western shore
of Lake Victoria. I was met by Dickson Laizer and Joram Ibrahim. It was
the first time for all of us in Bukoba. We did a 1 Timothy conference
for about 50, primarily Pentecostal church leaders. Despite pouring rain
for several hours the second day, the conference went wonderfully well.
Here are a few comments by some of the participants: "I learned the
importance of teaching books of the Bible." "I learned to read and take
notes and preach and teach in context." "I saw how to remain on our
goal, which is love. It has expanded my understanding of how I should
preach and teach through Christ's love." "It seemed like we learned the
whole Bible through the book of 1 Timothy."

Bukoba, TZ conference

Mwanza, TZFrom
Bukoba we took the
bus to Mwanza, on the southern shore of Lake Victoria. We were going to
do 2 TOTs on 1 Timothy, one in Kiswahili (led by Dickson and Joram) and
one in English (led by me). However, because of the large number of
church leaders who wanted to attend (over 60), we converted it into
another conference. Dickson, Joram, and I again taught, and were joined
in teaching by ECLEA's lake district regional coordinator, Godfrey
Ongiri. The reception by the participants was again very good, several
commenting that this came at just the right time and was an answer to
prayer. I am grateful for this and hope it will bear much fruit.

Joram teaching at Mwanza, TZ

Arusha, TZMy
last venue in Tanzania this trip is Arusha, Dickson's hometown. We have
been doing 2 Expository Preaching TOTs (Kiswahili and English). I had
approximately 8 students in my class; Joram had about 12 in his. Today
was "preaching
day." In my class three students preached and the whole class
critiqued. Joram had six preachers (he had given them a shorter
preaching time limit). Joram said that one of his preachers understood
and did everything almost perfectly. I could not say the same, but all
of the preachers in my class made reasonable efforts to apply the things
we had been emphasizing. The critiques and the discussion also showed
that everyone learned quite a bit. May God be with them as they try to
apply what they have learned back in their churches.

Arusha, TZ: My Expository Preaching group

Tomorrow we
conclude with a 1 Timothy conference. This weekend I will take the bus
to Kenya where I will be in Maasailand for a week. Thank you for your
continued prayer and financial support, both of which are very much
needed and very much appreciated. Regards, Jonathan

About Us

Jonathan is the Director of Equipping Church Leaders-East Africa(ECLEA). ECLEA’s mission is to glorify God by training and equipping East African church leaders with sound and relevant biblical doctrine in order to transform lives, the churches, and communities.
Learn more about ECLEA at eclea.net.